Chris Christie, who knows something about being U.S. Attorney, spoke at FDU about two months ago and was asked about Alina Habba, the new interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.

He said her introductory remarks about hoping to turn New Jersey "red" were "rather unsettling." Christie's obvious point was that blatant partisanship is not what the state's chief federal law enforcement official should be about. He even said he hoped someone would set her straight.

Christie probably knew better.

In the world of Donald Trump, everything is transactional and if you are not on his side, you are an enemy. On that score. Habba, whose tenure ends in about two months, is doing what the president expects her to do.

Some 10 days ago, we had the well-publicized arrest of Ras Baraka, the Newark mayor and gubernatorial candidate, for "trespassing" at an ICE facility in Newark.

Given the fact the changes were dropped on Monday, this clearly was nothing more than a political accusation.

Now, Habba has gone a bit further. She said on Monday that her office has charged Rep. LaMonica McIver with "assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement."

This is more serious than mere trespassing.

Baraka's arrest and the charges against McIver stem from the same incident - a May 9 protest at the ICE facility.

There are - naturally - videos of the incident. What do they show? In truth, very little.

What comes to mind is the old basketball adage of "no harm, no foul."

There was chaos - actually a scrum - outside the main gate of the detention center

McIver, who was quite visible in a red dress, was in the middle of it. She did make contact with an officer, but the officer also made contact with her.

By any objective analysis, this was a case of a group of people pushing and shoving each other.

It was not a case of the congresswoman hitting an officer over the head with a lead pipe. It is noteworthy that McIver was not arrested at the time. So, clearly, no one in the U.S. Attorney's Office back on May 9 thought her actions were criminal.

But now, they do.

Hard to figure out why, but one can suggest that the feds needed to charge someone - anyone - after realizing that Baraka's alleged transgression was nothing at all.

McIver won the "prize."

The congresswoman has been representing CD-10 covering parts of Essex, Union and Hudson counties for less than a year. She replaced the late Rep. Donald Payne. She obviously did not plan for this, but events have a way of finding you.

Speaking Tuesday morning on CNN, she said:

“Well, the Justice Department and Alina Habba wanted me to admit to doing something that I did not do, and I was not going to do that..."
She also said she would not be "intimidated."

Trump also commented today, talking about "law and order." This from the man who pardoned those who rampaged through the Capitol.